Celebrating 30 Years of Democracy - 2024 Highlights
In this webinar we hear about the plans for the 30th Anniversary celebrations of South Africa’s first democratic elections, which brought in President Mandela as the first democratically elected President.
The South African Government and its many global Missions are combining with local businesses, South African businesses and communities to celebrate. Examples to date include the Nasdaq Tower in Washington and Times Square in New York being lit up with South African images in April this year.
In London and the UK, the plans for the 30th year celebrations cover the arts, culture and business. The SA Chamber of Commerce UK, working with the High Commission and His Excellency “Kingsley” Mamabolo, will be rolling out a series of business related events.
The purpose of this webinar is to understand our journey as people and a country, running up to 1994, that moment of change, and the journey of change that has followed over the past 30 years. Our panel will showcase the planned events that will be happening. Lord Hain will talk about his involvement in bringing apartheid to an end.
Trisha Sibbons will share the role of ACTSA (now Action for Southern Africa) the successor body to the anti-apartheid movement in the UK, and their role in bringing change.
High Commissioner Kingsley Mamabola will give the perspective from the ANC and government standpoint.
Sharon Constançon, Chairman of the SA Chamber UK will facilitate the discussion and describe the lead role the SA Chamber UK is taking in this year’s project “SA in the City”.Join this webinar to find out how you can get involved in this exciting celebratory year, which cities are getting involved, what is interesting to you, and how you can enjoy, network and do more business, whilst we remember how much has changed.
His Excellency Kingsley Mamabolo, High Commissioner to the UK & Northern Ireland. High Commissioner Mamabolo began his political career in 1978 as the Deputy Head of Mission for the African National Congress (ANC) in Tanzania before being appointed to the same position in Zimbabwe in 1985. He became Head of Mission (Chief Representative) for the ANC in Mozambique in 1987, then Cuba in 1989 and Zimbabwe in 1992. Following the election of the first ANC Government in 1994, he became High Commissioner to the Republic of Zimbabwe, until 1999, when he became South Africa’s Permanent Representative to the African Union and concurrently South African Ambassador to Ethiopia, Sudan and Djibouti. In 2002 he became Deputy Director-General for African Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, until 2006, when he was appointed as South Africa’s Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region. From 2009 to 2013 he was South African High Commissioner to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, before moving on to New York to become the Permanent Representative of the Republic of South Africa to the United Nations. In 2017 he was appointed as Joint Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations and Chairperson of the African Union, a position which he held until 2021.
Lord Peter Hain, Labour Peer in the House of Lords Peter Hain was a senior minister for twelve years in Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s governments, where he served as Secretary of State for Wales and Northern Ireland, as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and as Leader of the Commons. He was also Europe Minister, Foreign Minister and Energy Minister. He chaired the UN Security Council, and negotiated international Treaties curbing nuclear proliferation and banning the conflict-inducing trade in blood diamonds. He was the Labour MP for Neath between 1991 and 2015. Peter Hain’s childhood was spent in apartheid South Africa, a period that came to an end when his parents were forced into exile in 1966. A leader of the Anti-Apartheid Movement and the Anti-Nazi League in Britain during the 1970s and 1980s, he obtained degrees at Queen Mary College, London, and Sussex University. Over nearly 50 years in politics Hain has written or edited twenty-one books – including his biography Mandela (2010), memoirs Outside In (2012), Ad & Wal: values, duty, sacrifice in apartheid South Africa (2014), and Back to the Future of Socialism (2015). He is also the author of numerous pamphlets and media articles, and has appeared widely on radio and television, as well as being an experienced public speaker.
Trisha Sibbons, Director Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) Tricia is the 2020 recipient of the Archbishop of Cape Town’s Peace with Justice Award and brings significant experience in development work across sub-Saharan Africa. Over the last 20 years she has served at NED and executive level in many small charities and led the start-up of others in the UK and in Southern Africa, focusing on creative, educational and entrepreneurial opportunities for youth. In the UK she is a trustee of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and a patron of the ASHA Peace Centre in Gloucestershire. In South Africa she supports Kwasa College Springs with pro-bono fundraising work and is a Trustee of the Jonas Gwangwa Heritage Foundation.
Sharon Constançon, Chairman, South African Chamber of Commerce UK Sharon is serving her 9th year on the Board of the SA Chamber UK and has held the Chairman position since 2017. She is an advocate for giving back to South Africa and creates engaging opportunities for South Africans to meet, to learn and to do business. In her tenure, the SA Chamber UK has touched many lives, created solutions, and shared passion to do business. Sharon, in her day job, is CEO of Genius Boards, a Board governance consultancy, she is CEO of Valufin and Constançon Currencies, two foreign exchange advisory companies, being the outsourced forex treasury department to importers and exporter. Sharon is on the Court of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, a Trustee of two charities linked to SA and one which is locally focused. She is a trainer in Board development and a lecturer and Board Risk and Board Dynamics.
Participation is free, but registration is essential. Zoom links will be sent out in the 24 hours prior to the event.
